14.11

The Grim opened his mouth to shout for help.

Preacher Kelly’s jaw almost dropped in disbelief at what happened next.

He became aware of a low rumbling sound in the distance. It gradually grew louder until it became a roar.

He was puzzled what was causing the sound until he saw blood-slicked white paintwork.

The Grim’s cry for help quickly changed into a scream of terror.

Preacher Kelly threw himself back from the window as it came in in a flurry of deadly shards.

The speeding dozer hit the Grim at roughly waist height, crushing him into the wall of the medical store.

Blood ran out of his mouth, clotting in his beard.

Preacher Kelly saw the light slowly fading from his eyes. Then the Grim’s eyes disappeared as a shotgun blast took off his head from the bottom jaw up over.

‘What in God’s name is taking you so long?’ Cross grimaced from the top of the dozer.

Preacher Kelly winced as he heard the sounds of the Grims from the surrounding area, disturbed by the commotion that Cross had created.

‘We were supposed to be being quiet, Reverend,’ he said in utter disbelief at what he’d just witnessed.

‘The devil is in God’s house, Preacher Kelly,’ Cross said, his face lighting up with the same manic fervour that overcame him when speaking to his congregation. ‘And we must cut him out.’

Preacher Kelly winced again as Cross picked up his megaphone and began once more belting out a spirited rendition of, ‘Onward Christian soldiers.’

Preacher Kelly used his gun butt to knock the glass loose from the frame then began to climb through.

‘Come on, let’s get out of here,’ he said, dropping armfuls of antibiotics through the dozer’s hatch.

Cross looked at him like he was the one who was insane. ‘I made this village what it is, Preacher Kelly. This is my home. And I will die within these walls. But not today.’

‘But Reverend—’ he began but cut off when he saw the look in Cross’ eyes.

He looked possessed. It was good to have him back.

Grinning insanely, Simon grasped the gun mounting with a white-knuckle grip.

The rounds began to tear into the dozens of Grims that were converging on the dozer.

Preacher Kelly didn’t even need to fire – the mounted gun took care of all of them.

‘Let’s see those filthy heathens argue with that,’ Cross grinned, face lit up by the muzzle flashes.

The gun fell silent when there were no more Grims to kill.

‘I’m not hiding like a rat in a trap,’ Cross bellowed. ‘God has told me to be bold, to take back what is ours. If you would be so kind as to steer, Preacher Kelly, I will do the honours with the artillery.’

*

If there were more Grims in Serenity, they wisely remained hidden.

The vulgar display of power by the medical stores had demonstrated that even though there were only a few of them, Serenity’s forces were still strong.

The dozer prowled through the ruined village. Cross swivelled incessantly on his gun turret, making sure every potential hiding place was in his line of fire.

The next time they saw a Grim was when they approached the church.

‘They shall pay for what they have done here,’ he muttered through gritted teeth. Tears blurred his view of his beloved church. ‘Defiling a house of God.’

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While he mourned for a moment, a dirty head poked up from behind a gravestone.

A hail of sparks flew up as the shot hit the dozer’s stained paintwork.

Cross was startled from his thoughts and instantly his finger depressed the trigger. Chunks of headstone were blasted away until the Grim was revealed still crouching behind it.

The high-calibre rounds tore through him.

More gunshots came from behind an adjacent headstone.

The graveyard was already ruined. There was a huge crater in the middle, seeming to emanate from Wayne’s grave. The headstones around it had been obliterated in the blast.

Again Cross was moved to tears by this, but they were soon evaporated by his rage. He saw no reason to preserve what remained of his graveyard.

He asked for Preacher Kelly to pass up some of the fire bombs and began firing these all around the graveyard.

The Grims lurking behind the headstones fell, screaming, as the flames engulfed them.

He picked off a few stragglers with well-aimed machine gun rounds.

A handful ran away, bloodied and dishevelled.

He fired a few rounds after them, missing the Grims but putting the fear of God in them.

‘There is no hiding from the eyes of God,’ his distorted loudhailer announcement informed them.

They scanned the rest of the area surrounding the church, mowing down a few more Grims that dared to open fire on them.

‘Let’s see what they have done to my church,’ Cross said, his voice full of fear and trepidation.

*

A couple of Grims were concealed among the pews, but the guns of the religious men made short work of them.

Once they had fallen still, Cross paused to take in the scene.

The pews had been smashed to pieces. Some of them were smoking, but the fire hadn’t caught on properly. The flame-retardant paint they’d applied to all the church’s wooden surfaces when rebuilding after the first church fire was doing its job beautifully.

His altar was smashed, defiled by some degenerate having used it as a toilet.

‘The devil is indeed strong in these heathens,’ Cross said, shaking his head.

Preacher Kelly snorted in disgust. ‘I shall clean that up as soon as we have secured the place.’

Cross nodded, barely acknowledging him. ‘No need. Deborah can clean that up as part of her penance. No need for you to get your hands dirty, Preacher Kelly.’

Preacher Kelly smiled in relief.

‘Let’s see how that wicked wife of mine is, anyway.’

The corridors in the back of the church were empty.

No Grims were to be seen.

*

Cross shouted in rage and slammed a hand into the wall when he saw the door to Deborah’s cell was standing wide open.

‘The treacherous little bitch,’ he shouted, startling Preacher Kelly with his fury.

He moved in to ensure she wasn’t hiding somewhere in the gloom. She was sly and he knew she could hide in here and try and attack him.

But it seemed she was long gone.

Preacher Kelly wasn’t certain but he thought he heard Cross mutter a swear word under his breath.

He followed Cross through the concealed section of the church until they reached the hidden door that led to Cross’ living quarters – where he and Wayne had taken turns to hide when the other was running Serenity. He was relieved to see that the door was still sealed.

‘Those heathens aren’t so clever,’ he grinned.

He pushed the section of wall back and slid it open.

Opened the concealed door and moved inside.

As the door clicked shut behind him, he knew they were secure in here.

He lowered his weapon.

Let out a weary sigh.

And that was when the gun butt hit him square in the side of the head.